1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to dental obturation systems and, more particularly, to a dental obturation system, which can heat and melt gutta-percha (root canal filling rubber) and can obturate a root canal with the gutta-percha under high pressure using a micro tube while the nerves of a patient receive dental treatment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, methods of treating a decayed tooth for a patient in a dental clinic have been executed by removing a decayed part from the tooth using dental files and by filling a root canal with a filling material (root canal filling cement or a sealer), and thereby sealing the root canal prior to applying a dental prosthesis to the tooth. Particularly when an endodontium has been injured or infected in the above state, the injured or infected endodontium must be removed prior to filling the root canal with the filling material. The process of filling the root canal with the filling material uses a gutta-percha cone, which is a temporary filling material capable of aiding the main filling material such that the main filling material can efficiently fill the root canal and can completely seal the root canal. The gutta-percha is natural vegetable extract, which naturally is in a semisolid state at room temperature, but is provided in the form of solidified rubber by pressurizing or heating the semisolid gutta-percha. The gutta-percha in the form of the solidified rubber has been generally called “white gutta-percha”.
The white gutta-percha is mixed with zinc oxide, barium sulfate, wax, pigment, etc. using a roll or a mixer and is extruded in the form of a plate, and is cut into gutta-percha cones of various sizes. Gutta-percha cones are materials which are widely and preferably used in root canal treatment in recent years and are known as a material which is compatible with a living body because it is not poisonous to a root apex. The marketed gutta-percha cones include standardized cones and accessory cones, in which the standardized cones have the same shape as that of dental files.
In administering dental treatment to a patient in need of nerve repair, the infected part of an endodontium is cut and infected nervous tissue is removed using dental files, and, in order to prevent a new source of infection from forming in a root canal, a filling material is applied to a root canal wall and a gutta-percha cone having a size appropriate to the size of the root canal is inserted into the root canal, thus allowing the filling material to be fixed both to a main root canal and to a sub-root canal. In the above state, it is important to bring the gutta-percha cone into complete contact both with the root canal wall and with the root apex.
When the root canal has been obturated as described above, the filling state of the filling material in the root canal is examined by X-rays and, thereafter, the gutta-percha cone is removed from the root canal. To remove the gutta-percha cone from the root canal, a heated excavator, a heated endodontic plugger or a heated spreader have been used.
A dental obturation system, which has been used to apply the gutta-percha cone to the root canal such that the gutta-percha cone can be brought into complete contact with the root canal wall during the dental treatment, typically includes a main body, a hand grip part, a power unit for supplying electricity to the system, a heating unit, and a needle member (micro tube) mounted to a front end of the main body.
However, the conventional dental obturation system is problematic in that both the heating unit and the micro tube are fixed to the main body, so that it is not easy to manipulate the system.
Described in detail, when the dental obturation system is used in a dental clinic, the micro tube is typically used after bending it so as to realize easy application of the filling material into a tooth. However, the bending direction and the bending angle of the micro tube must be different to suit the affected part of a patient, which may be situated in an anterior tooth, a posterior tooth, a maxillary tooth or a mandibular tooth. Therefore, when an operator cannot freely move his/her hands or cannot freely manipulate the dental obturation system while using the system, the operator may not easily use the system. Particularly, the gutta-percha must be heated at a high temperature exceeding 200° C., so that the patient and the operator are exposed to a burn when the dental treatment is being administered.